The Future of Youth Work? The Future of the Campaign? National Conference, April 10

Find below the initial information re our national conference on Thursday, April 10 in Leeds. It is attached too as a Word document so please copy and circulate as you think fit. Hope to see you there!

Five years on from the emergence of our Campaign we will be taking a breath. Where are we up to? What are the prospects for youth work in the coming period?

Starting at 11.00 a.m. the morning will comprise an initial session in small groups sharing a sense of what we think is going on in our own situations and our thoughts about what lies down the road. This will be followed by two keynote contributions on the ‘Future of Youth Work’ from Janet Batsleer, author of ‘Informal Learning in Youth Work’ and Howard Sercombe, author of ‘Youth Work Ethics’.

In the afternoon we will be taking a range of contributions from the grass-roots, which will explore the hopes and fears of students and workers on the ground. Thence via animated [!] discussion we will seek to clarify with one another the way forward and the priorities for the Campaign.

Prior to the conference we will be circulating a provisional statement on behalf of the steering group, which attempts to sum up ‘where we are up to’ and ‘where we might be going’. Throughout the conference itself we will be recording the opinions of participants, particularly with regard to this draft. In the final session to close at 4.15 p.m. we will be feeding back to the conference a summary of how the day’s debate has impacted on the statement and in what ways therefore it needs to be revised. Through this process we hope to strengthen our collective sense of purpose, whilst still encouraging critical dialogue within our disparate ranks.

As usual we will be asking participants to bring their own lunches, but tea, coffee, water etc will be available.